UPDATED: Constable charged with murder after shooting at causeway bar

A Mobile County Constable faces a murder charge after allegedly shooting a man in the head outside a local bar just after midnight July 20.

Spanish Fort Police say Mobile County Constable Larry Sheffield, 68, and Jeffrey McMillan, 53, got into an argument inside Traders bar on the causeway. According to Spanish Fort Police Chief David Edgar, the confrontation began inside the establishment and carried on outside, where Sheffield shot McMillan in the parking lot.

McMillan was dead when police arrived on the scene.

“The last thing I remember him [McMillan] doing was requesting a Cat Stevens song,” Cathy McCary, who performed at Traders that night with her band Al and Cathy said. “He was having a good time. Within about 20 minutes, he was dead. It was just terrible.” According to McCary, she had never met McMillan until the night of the incident, but said he was having a good time talking and dancing with everyone.

“He was never inappropriate to anybody,” she said. “He seemed like a nice guy, and I guess he just picked the wrong guy to speak to.”

McCary shared an eyewitness account of Sheffield punching McMillan and punching his own wife in the back of the head.

“The last thing we heard the shooter say was, ‘You can just go home with him them,’” McCary said.

Sheffield then threw money on the bar to pay his tab and walked outside, she said. McMillan proceeded to follow him to the parking lot.

“The victim, I guess, just couldn’t let it go that he had been hit and the man’s [Sheffield’s] wife had been hit,” McCary said. “And that was the end of what we saw. We didn’t see any of the shooting. We were all inside. But she [Sheffield’s wife] had even mentioned he was jealous.”

Sheffield was taken into custody and is currently being held in Baldwin County jail.

According to Darrell Carter, President of the Mobile County Constable Association, specific details will be made available as soon as information is received.

“For right now, we can’t speak on it because the investigation is still ongoing,” he said.

Sheffield’s bond was set for $250,000 during a hearing on Monday, July 21.

Constables are elected officials who operate under the state constitution and are not under the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, MCSO spokesperson Lori Myles said.

Sheffield was elected constable for Precinct 24, serving the Semmes area, according to the Mobile County Constables website. Sheffield’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 12.

“It’s really unfortunate because Traders is such a wonderful establishment,” McCary said. “We’ve played there quite a few times over the years and we’ve never even seen a fistfight. It’s always been a great place to go. An incident like this of somebody with a hot temper … it could happen at any public place.”